Why Choose Community Nursing As a Profession?

Community nurses are very skilled and provide diverse health care specialties in many areas throughout their professional lifespan. Being fully trained and equipped to provide a vast range of healthcare needs anywhere in the community, community nurses can be considered as the Good Samaritans of the society. Community nursing is in demand for sure, but is that the only reason why you should take to this domain?

Here are 4 reasons why you should be a community nurse

– Not many nurses opt for this stream of nursing. In fact, a survey reported only 30% nurses take to this form of nursing, especially when they wish to start their nursing career. This is a direct incentive for all of you who wish to join this form of nursing – Less competition.

– The job role of such a nurse is so different from a RN or a LPN for example. A community nurse primarily works as a part of a multi-disciplinary team, and is equipped to handle any emergency on a community level.

– Higher pay-scales for community nurses – The added responsibility of taking care of nursing needs on a community level brings a rise in the pay-scales of the nurses. On an average, a community nurse earns about 15% more the salary of a top earning RN.

– Being such a nurse, you could be directly involved in addressing some social issues related to health care. For example, you could be a part of the team campaigning for HIV awareness. You could also participate in Anti-Polio vaccination drives. The list is virtually endless but the point is – You can be a social interface with the society.

The reasons to be a community nurse may be sound, but the task in itself is very challenging. Apart from being on top of your role, you always have to think on your foot, as challenges would hit you from all ends. Lady Florence Nightingale probably best defined community nursing and her example lives on for a lot of nurses who wish to take to this form of nursing. With this role, you can be sure of one thing – Apart from tackling the medical issues impacting people, you would also deal with a lot of social issues too.

With most forms of nursing, you would find nurses working behind the scenes, making patient’s stay in the healthcare setting, pleasurable. But in being a community nurse, you would be exposed to a completely different role.